Man Leading a Ram by the Horn

The elastically modeled, youthful male figure grasps the left horn of the ram with his three-fingered left hand. The attenuated, perpendicular column of the young man’s neck supports his head, which is round and smooth. His nose and ears are shallowly modeled, and his eyes are impressed dots. However, his slit-like mouth is open and animated, and his chin, although subtly rendered, is clearly defined. His right hand, with all the fingers fully articulated, pulls against the right flank of the ram, steadying and straightening it forward. His effort in controlling the animal is expressed in the torsion of his shoulders, back, and hips, and by the uneven distribution of his weight; he leans forward on the bent left leg, with the straight right leg planted behind him. Both feet are planted flat on the squarish base, which is pierced by a rusted iron rod that extends upward into the ram’s belly. This is probably a remnant of the dowel that fastened the group to a larger object, perhaps a staff. The ram is thick and bulky, evoking its heavy wool and musculature, while its long, forward-curving horns enhance an impression of its strength. Its elongated, triangular face features a high nasal ridge extending from between the horns to the end of the muzzle. The ram’s mouth is open. The eyes and nostrils are indicated by precisely impressed or punched pits. The squat, stubby legs taper abruptly into the base that it shares with its human attendant. It is instructive to compare this composition to three similar bronze figurine groups of a man with a ram from the Geometric period sanctuary of Delphi (1). A fourth bronze group of a man with a ram, from the Malophoros Sanctuary at Selinus, is in the Museo Nazionale Palermo (2). NOTES: 1. For the man-with-ram groups at Delphi, see C. Rolley, Monuments figurés: Les statuettes de bronze, Fouilles de Delphes 5 (Paris, 1969) 53-55, nos. 42-44, fig. 16, pl. 12 (no. 44 is the guide for the reins of a chariot). 2. For the bronze group from Selinus in Palermo, see C. A. Di Stefano, Bronzetti figurati del Museo Nazionale di Palermo (Rome, 1975) 59-60, no. 99 (inv. no. 8241 [B90]), pl. 24. Tamsey Andrews and David G. Mitten